1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sense circuitry for memory devices, and more particularly to source side sense circuitry for such devices.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a variety of types of non-volatile memory based on charge storage memory cells, including memory cells that store charge between the channel and gate of a field effect transistor. The amount of charge stored affects the threshold voltage of the transistor, which can be sensed to indicate data.
One type of charge storage memory cell is known as a floating gate memory cell. In a floating gate memory cell, charge is stored on an electrically conductive layer between the channel and gate of the transistor. The threshold voltage is changed by storing or removing charge on the electrically conductive layer by applying appropriate voltages to a memory cell. Another type of memory cell is referred to as a charge trapping memory cell, which uses a dielectric charge trapping layer in place of the floating gate.
In a read operation, appropriate voltages are applied to induce a current to flow from the drain terminal to the source terminal of the memory cell. The current is dependent upon the threshold voltage of the transistor and thus indicates the data stored therein.
Reading the data stored in a selected memory cell can be carried out by sensing the current at a drain terminal (“drain-side sensing”), or by sensing the current at a source terminal (“source-side sensing”).
In drain-side sensing, a data line (e.g. bit line) connected to the drain terminal of the selected memory cell is coupled to a sensing circuit. Appropriate bias voltages are applied to the memory cell to induce a current to flow from the data line to the drain terminal through to the source terminal of the memory cell. The sensing circuit senses the current drawn from the data line by the memory cell, and compares the sensed current to a suitable reference or references to determine the data stored in the cell. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,295,471; 6,272,043; 7,339,846; 6,731,542; and 6,771,543.
In source-side sensing, a data line connected to the source terminal of a selected memory cell is coupled to a sensing circuit. Appropriate bias voltages are applied to the memory cell to induce a read current to flow from the drain terminal to the source terminal and onto the data line. The sensing circuit senses the read current on the data line, and compares the sensed current to a suitable reference or references to determine the data stored in the cell. For source-side sensing, the sensing circuit typically senses the read current at a node having a voltage at or near ground potential.
The read current can be sensed by using the read current to charge a capacitance, which can be modeled as an equivalent load capacitor at the sensing input of a sense amplifier of the sensing circuit. The change in voltage at the sensing input depends on the read current, and thus indicates the data stored in the selected memory cell.
In source-side sensing the sensing input of the sense amplifier is coupled to the source terminal of the memory cell. As a result, a specific issue arising in source-side sensing is that the voltage on the source terminal will also increase by an amount dependent upon the read current. The increase in voltage on the source terminal decreases the drain-to-source voltage and increases the body effect of the selected memory cell. This in turn reduces the read current provided by the memory cell.
The threshold voltages of memory cells in an array will vary because of variations in the operating environment, as well as in materials and manufacturing processes. These variations result in differences in read current among memory cells storing the same data value, including differences in the change in read current caused by an increase in the source voltage. Thus, having the source voltage increase by an amount dependent upon the read current results in a wide distribution of the voltage or current at the sensing input of the sense amplifier. The need to operate in these conditions increases the complexity of sense circuitry and/or the time needed for sensing.
It is therefore desirable to provide source-side sense circuitry addressing the issues caused by the variation in source voltage during reading, as well as methods for operating such circuitry.